Luis Fernando Camacho gained notoriety in 2019 by leading the protests in Santa Cruz over allegations of alleged electoral fraud in favor of then-president Evo Morales
The Bolivian Police detained Luis Fernando Camacho, governor of Santa Cruz, the largest region and economic engine of the country and opposition leader who managed to dethrone Evo Morales in 2019, as confirmed by Government Minister Eduardo del Castillo.
“We inform the Bolivian people that the Bolivian Police complied with the arrest warrant against Mr. Luis Fernando Camacho,” he wrote on his Castillo social networks, without specifying for now which of the numerous causes against him He was arrested.
The Santa Cruz Governor’s Office denounced in a statement that Camacho “has been kidnapped in an absolutely irregular police operation, and taken to an unknown destination.”
“The operation to kidnap the governor was carried out in the streets surrounding his home when he was returning after carrying out management activities,” the note indicates.
The Government pointed out that at this time it is unknown where Camacho is and blamed the Government of President Luis Arce “for the physical safety and life” of the opponent.
A video shared on social networks shows that the vehicle in which the Santa Cruz governor was traveling was intercepted by at least two motorists and they fired tear gas at it to force it to stop.
He is then heard getting out of the vehicle coughing as some men yell at him to get on the ground amid insults.
Who is Luis Fernando Camacho?
Luis Fernando Camacho gained notoriety in 2019 by leading the protests in Santa Cruz over allegations of alleged electoral fraud in favor of then-President Evo Morales in the failed general elections of that year.
That conflict led to the resignation of Morales from the Presidency, which for the current Government of Arce and the ruling party was a supposed “coup d’état” against him.
Camacho was denounced for the alleged coup against Morales in a process for which former interim president Jeanine Áñez is imprisoned.
In addition to this process, there are also numerous complaints against him from the ruling party for the 36-day strike carried out in Santa Cruz between October and November of this year to demand the prompt completion of the population census.
From a family originally from Cochabamba, a central region characterized by combative people, Camacho is also part of a real estate family business and another poultry business.
A 41-year-old lawyer with a master’s degree in tax law from the University of Barcelona, Camacho gained notoriety as president of the Pro-Santa Cruz Committee (east), a conglomerate of right-wing business, neighborhood and labor entities in the richest region of Bolivia.
After the resignation of Morales in November 2019, Camacho propped up the transitional government of Jeanine Áñez, but after a short time both broke up.